NFI ordered to reinstate fired trucker, pay him $276,000
Jun 15, 2016
Jeff Blumenthal Reporter Philadelphia Business Journal
NFI Interactive Logistics said it will be filing a formal objection after being ordered to reinstate a truck driver-turned-whistleblower and pay him $276,000 after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined he was fired for refusing to violate federal safety regulations.
According to an OSHA statement, the driver-turned-whistleblower was assigned to deliver a truckload of Poland Spring bottled water from Northborough, Massachusetts, to Jersey City, N.J., on Aug. 15, 2012. Due to a severe thunderstorm, flooded roads, heavy traffic and motor vehicle accidents, the trip took significantly longer than normal. OSHA said the driver believed that he lacked sufficient time to complete the delivery and return home without violating the hours of service restrictions contained in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations.
To address the situation, OSHA said he delivered the load to a closer customer facility in nearby Kearny, N.J. NFI objected and shortly after the delivery arrived in Kearny, arrangements were made to have a different NFI trucker drive the load to Jersey City. Both NFI and the customer approved the new arrangement.
The load was delivered and the driver returned to Massachusetts. NFI fired him the next day for insubordination. The driver subsequently filed a whistleblower complaint with OSHA. The agency investigated and found merit to his complaint.
“This driver found a way to do his job and ensure motor carrier safety. Rather than receiving credit for doing the right thing, he received a pink slip,” said Kim Stille, OSHA’s New England regional administrator, in a statement. “The law is clear: Drivers have the right to raise legitimate safety concerns to their employer – including refusing to violate safety regulations – without fear of termination or other retaliation. NFI must reverse its actions and compensate this driver for the financial and other losses he has suffered as a result of his illegal termination.”
In a statement, NFI said it takes very seriously its compliance with the hours of service regulations and all other applicable regulatory requirements and any alleged violations of such regulations and requirements.
“Although NFI does not typically comment on ongoing litigation, we want to make clear that NFI strongly objects to and challenges the preliminary findings of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that were contained in its Preliminary Order dated June 7, 2016,” NFI said. “NFI will be filing a formal objection and will request a trial before an administrative law judge to, among other things, correct the facts on which the preliminary findings were made.”
As part of that ruling, OSHA has ordered NFI to take the following actions:
- Immediately reinstate the driver to his former position, with all rights, seniority, pay raises and benefits to which he was entitled absent the discharge.
- Pay the driver $126,870 in back pay and interest covering the period from August 17, 2012 to June 7, 2016, plus additional amounts accruing up to the day the company makes the driver a bona fide offer of reinstatement.
- Pay him $50,000 in compensatory damages for pain and suffering, including emotional distress, depression, mental pain, humiliation and embarrassment.
- Pay him $100,000 in punitive damages and also pay his reasonable attorney fees.
- Expunge from all of its files any reference to the discharge, or the driver’s exercise of his rights under the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA).
- Make no adverse statements about the driver’s termination and/or any of the facts at issue in this case in response to any inquiry regarding his employment with NFI.
- Not retaliate against the driver in any manner for his instituting or causing to be instituted any proceeding under or related to STAA.
- Immediately post in a conspicuous location in its workplace a signed and dated notice to employees informing them of the order and their rights under STAA.
NFI Interactive Logistics is part of NFI Industries, which has been operated by the Brown family since its inception in 1932 and has grown from a trucking company to a $1.2 billion supply chain solutions provider.